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So Where ARE all the are the "Normal" families in Private Schools
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Anonymous
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There are so many people on this board that say they are just getting by/struggling to pay for private education for their kids. I had some down time (read bored at work) so I decided to use my DC’s class as a sample to see if there are any families that could be in this situation because it certainly does not look like it to me. Of the 19 families (some with dual working, some with one SAHP), there are 8 partners in large law firms, 9 Presidents/CEOs/Senior VPs at large well known companies, 2 senior world bank/imf employees, 4 physicians/dentists, 1 real estate magnate, 1 movie director, 2 business owners of large well known companies, and us – from what I can tell - the only normal family.
Now I am totally fine with this (I think) but just curious as to where all the other normal families are hiding. By normal I mean, well normal – not filthy rich , not dirt poor, reasonable sized house in okay neighborhood, etc. |
Anonymous
| I'd say that aside possibly from the real estate magnate and movie director these are all normal families! And the magnate and director probably think they're pretty normal too. |
Anonymous
We are one of the normal families!  I stay home, DH earns somewhat but not much above a GS-15 government salary (I think; haven't checked the GS tables lately). It is a huge strain for us to pay tuition for one child--can't even think about what we will do in two years when our younger child hits school age...
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Anonymous
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Median household income in the US is something like $50K.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/012528.html |
Anonymous
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DC isn't median. The median income in DC is not $50K. Not sure what it is, but it's a lot higher than that.
As to the OP's question, there is a HUGE disparity between what a CEO earns and a Senior VP. There are also huge disparities in what law firm partners make. Depending on the firm, some kids 5 or so years out of law school (non-partners) make more than junior partners in some other firms. I thought your class actually sounded pretty normal. We have had classes with more outliers in them than that. |
Anonymous
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We're normal, and I must admit, I googled to other parents (well, just the fathers as I am the only working mother in the classroom.) Again, partners, CEO's, the works. Hubby and I are apparently the only two holding menial jobs and struggling to pay tuition. The other parents really don't pay too much attention to us but who cares though, as long as my child is happy.
With all that said, I would like to know that there is another "normal" in our school. |
Anonymous
I guess I am just way poorer than I thought then. They certainly appear to be extremely wealthy - with houses like you would not believe. I never thought of our house as a hut - we paid well over $1m for it - but it is a hut compared to the ones I have visited in the last 3 years at this school. |
Anonymous
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This begs the question, what is "normal" -- our little world in the greater DC area, or the country as a whole. But anyway, here are the top 10 counties in the US. Since the city of DC isn't anywhere close to getting on this top 10 list, you don't really get a median for the entire metropolitan area. But we have some impressive counties.
Top 10 1. Loudoun County Va. $107,207 2. Fairfax County Va. $105,241 3. Howard County Md. $101,672 4. Hunterdon County N.J. $100,327 5. Somerset County N.J. $97,658 6. Calvert County Md. $95,134 7. Arlington County Va. $94,876 8. Morris County N.J. $94,684 9. Douglas County Colo. $92,824 10. Montgomery County Md. $91,835 http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2008/08/county_household_income_washin.html So to me, the "normal" family in this area is has one earner, a GS-13 or GS-14 government worker, and a SAHM. Or some combination of earnings for the two of them that only totals what a GS-13 gets. |
Anonymous
| What does a GS13 get? Or a 14 or 15 for that matter? Is this public information - don't want tyo pry. |
Anonymous
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Here is a link to the GS Salary table for the DC area:
http://www.opm.gov/oca/08tables/html/dcb.asp |
Anonymous
| Between $83K and $108K for G13: http://www.fedjobs.com/pay/pay.html |
Anonymous
| Ignore the link I posted; the OPM one is better. |
Anonymous
Its higher in Washington than elsewhere (and other places with a cost-of-living adjustment). For exact numbers you can go to www.OPM.gov but generally a GS-15 is the top non-SES position and that is around/approximately $120-$150 from Steps 1-10. |
Anonymous
| At many of these schools three children would set you back $100K per year after tax. Why would you expect there to be many families with earning the median household income paying such high fees. Most median income earners have other spending priorities. Do you also expect luxury resorts to be full of GS 13s? |
Anonymous
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Median household income in DC itself was $47,473 in 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States |